Jonah and Repentance
Notes
Transcript
Read - Jonah 3:5-9
Read - Jonah 3:5-9
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
Introduction:
Introduction:
Jonah witnessed one of the greatest turnarounds in history. A hostile and wicked people, fall on their faces as a whole and repent and cry out to God.
Assyria was a wicked, evil, and blood thirsty country, and would years later actually take part of Northern Kingdom, for now they were moved by the power of God in the words of Jonah and began to “cry mightily unto God.”
This is a tremendous picture of Biblical and evangelical repentance.
What is repentance? Is it necessary? How does it fit into the whole plan of salvation?
These are questions I want to answer tonight with the Lord’s help.
Let me set the scene for you -
Jonah has been commissioned by God in Jonah 1:1-2 to Get up quickly and go to Nineveh and cry against it.
Jonah instead gets up as quickly as he can and tries to run to Tarshish
God sends a storm and a big fish and Jonah gets thrown up -
Jonah finally goes to Nineveh - he preaches for three days that in “forty days God is going to destroy Nineveh.”
Now extrabiblical history tell us that there were a rise in famines, pestilence, and eclipses about this time. Perhaps that in conjunction with Jonah’s message the people of Nineveh are moved to seek God’s mercy.
I want to look at some of the different aspects of repentance before we go any further -
What is repentance? It is obviously something of extreme importance. It is mentioned all throughout the Bible -
My Uncle Delmar a fiery and wiry man, although age has changed some of that, used to either in preaching or sometimes testifying at church would come down the aisle with his hand in the air, his feet stomping the floor, and preach, “repentance is a bitter pill souls...”
I remember as a child not really sure what he was talking about - I could relate to a bitter pill - when I attended public school as a child, I often had headaches, we went to the doctor on numerous occasions, ran all types of scans, tests, and treatments, nothing seemed to help. But when the headaches got too severe I would go to the school nurse who would give me what seemed like the biggest Aspirin pill I have ever seen, and the tiniest little Dixie cup they could find. I would get a sip of water and put that pill in my mouth, and oh it was so nasty and bitter and tasted awful. But i would choke it down, and after awhile my headache would go away.
When I came to get saved, I was taught that I needed to repent- and as some of the sinful things I had done came back to me and the guilt and condemnation I wanted to straiten those things out as best I could - I realized a little more what Uncle Delmar meant.
But as I studied repentance in this study of Jonah - I realized we have often overemphasized the negative aspect of repentance - that it is more than just feeling bad and crying about it.
Repentance is at its core - a turning around - we see this in three different ways in the Ninevites.
First Turning to God.
First Turning to God.
According to Market Research, the self-improvement market was worth $9.9 billion in 2016 and is estimated to grow to $13.2 billion by 2022 - http://brandminds.live/the-self-improvement-industry-is-estimated-to-grow-to-13-2-billion-by-2022/
While the self-improvement and personal development industry is important and needful - I’m afraid many use the same approach in discipleship and Christianity.
Reform is not enough - turning over a new leaf isn’t sufficient.
We have to realize our help is not from us, or ability, education
“Our help” says the Psalmist, “cometh from the Lord.”
These wicked and vile Ninevites didn’t need forty days to figure this out -
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
The people believed God and that belief led to a humbling of attitude and prayer.
The word used for “God” here is “Elohim” The God of the Israelites, the One True God!!! We will talk about this later - but all of the Ninevite gods were left behind.
8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
The King says cry mightily unto God - That means earnestly, urgently, in sincerity.
When one repents they will have to turn from the gods of this world to the One True God!!!
Second Turning to Godliness
Second Turning to Godliness
Repentance was perhaps best defined by a small girl: Its to be sorry enough to quit.
While the word “repent” or “repentance” is not used in the English translation of this passage - the Hebrew word used in verse 8 “let them turn every one from his evil way...” means “to repent” to turn away.
Now an interesting study is between the various ways repentance is taught such as Roman Catholic, Reformed (Calvinists), & Wesleyan/ Arminian
Roman Catholic Theology teaches that repentance is connected particularly to the sacrament of pennance, a priest offers the forgiveness of Christ to repentant Christians alongside the obligation to fulfill certain “acts of penance.”
Reformed brethren - teach that both faith and repentance are consequent or follow the new birth or regeneration. They teach that the new birth is the even which enables the will to incline toward God - (which is their motto - salvation by grace alone.)
We on the other hand - as Wesleyan Arminian teach that repentance and faith are both made possible by a gift of prevenient (non-salvific) grace extended prior to conversion to all without exception.
This is certainly found in the scripture before us - Jonah 3:8 “let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.”
While the word, “repentance” is not in the English translation in the passage I’ve read tonight -
However - that word “turn” in Jonah 3:8 It is the Hebrew word, shûwb [shoob]
Turn / (shoob) means to return or repent. It is the twelfth most frequently used verb in the OT, appearing just over 1050 times.
...For better than any other verb it combines in itself the two requisites of repentance: to turn from evil and to turn to the good.
R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Bruce K. Waltke, ed., “2340: שׁוּב,” in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 909.
Repentance is not just crying but changing.
Notice what they turned from - Their evil way - this could have been numerous things - cheating...
The Butcher
Two fellows opened a butcher shop and prospered. Then an evangelist came to town, and one of the butchers was saved. He tried to persuade his partner to accept salvation also, but to no avail. “Why won’t you, Charlie?” asked the born-again fellow.
“Listen, Lester,” the other butcher said. “If I get religion, too, who’s going to weigh the meat?”
James Dent of Charleston, W. Va., Gazette
Stealing, adultery, fornication, idolatry - whatever evil they were doing it was bad enough God had determined to destroy them -
They turned from it.
They also turned form their violence - they were ruthless and blood-thirsty people. Veggie-Tales tamed it way down by calling them fish-slappers.
They were cruel and violent,
But they turned from that as well.
Third - Their Repentance was in and led to faith -
Third - Their Repentance was in and led to faith -
Now there is controversy about how faith and repentance cooperate.
However Biblically they do -
Repentance terminates in faith - or as one writes:
21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
These Ninevite certainly cried out in faith - they believed God they turned from their evil and wicked ways -
And I love what it says next
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Now here the KJV uses the word “repented” God doesn’t repent of something sinful - the more accurate word is “relented”
To cease a particular activity, often with the implication that the relenting is a gracious act.
I’m so thankful that God relented for the Ninevites -
I’m so thankful God relented for me!!!